


Progression of Views

by Angie (Angie13)



Category: The Prophecy (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-20
Updated: 2008-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 03:04:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1628246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angie13/pseuds/Angie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things change over a few thousand (give or take) years.  Even angels change.  Some are just ahead of the curve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Progression of Views

**Author's Note:**

> A big thank you to my roomie who allowed me to watch this endlessly and to Tami who checked my abuse of commas.
> 
> Written for Empy

 

 

Once the best beloved amongst us, raised above all other beings, sitting at the right most-honored hand of our Lord.

Why would you reject that? Were you that greedy, that insatiable? To be so loved and, as I know was true, to love so deeply in return should always have been enough.

And, if the glory and the grace was not enough, was I not enough then, too?

Sometimes I think I should have seen your betrayal coming. I knew you so well. We stood shoulder to shoulder and watched the world in its infancy. We listened to the words, heard the echoes within and without, and watched the sea and sky and earth come into existence under our Lord's will. With a word, a new world spread out beneath us. Wonder emerged before us and rang in our songs of praise. I watched the golden glow behind you as the new sun set and felt myself smile. You were so beautiful. 

The word was everything and we heard it frequently. We listened as He spoke. You and I, privy to our Lord's thoughts and plans, watched. Day was created and night. They rolled over endlessly. It is impossible to keep record of time before there are units of measurement. It felt half an eternity at the very least. Peace settled in and, I suppose, complacency ran through our ranks. Perhaps that is why the new creations bothered you so. You forgot that we were His creations as well.

Our Lord presented them to us as great works, pieces of the highest art, and told us to bow before them. I bent my head obediently but watched you, as always, out the corner of my eye and saw the motion along your jaw. Your chin lifted a fraction and then dropped again, almost an acknowledging nod but I saw that it was not. I knew something had changed in that instant and I followed you away to better know. We were still within His sight, always within the sight and the knowledge, but the occupation had changed and now His concern was all for his new creations.

I touched you but you turned from me as you had turned from Him. The first flickers of fear started then and it felt like a tremor at the core of my existence. "Lucifer," I said, "why do you move away? What have I done?"

"Nothing." Your words, cold as ice, stung against my flesh. But then you turned to me and I saw your face creased with a new expression, a new emotion. "Nothing that you would understand," you said. "Nothing you will ever understand." You paused then and lifted a hand to my face; for an instant, the motion was too abrupt and I almost flinched away. As your palm touched my cheek and paused at my jaw, you met my eyes and only devotion kept me sane in that moment. "Some day you may and then, on that day, you will come home to me."

I shook my head but it was no more denial than it could have been acceptance. I did not know what you meant until later. So much later that all I could do was watch as the punishment fell. Gone were your beautiful wings and your glow. Gone was the surety and the sweetness. Left behind was nothing I recognized or could love. Our Lord cast you out, sent you away from His sight. The love was broken and I turned my eyes towards the ground for the pain. There I saw mankind, mewling and crawling and raising their hands to the heavens. This, I thought, was what you had seen as the future. The coldness of your passing filled me until everything crystallized in the frost.

Your grace has passed, Lucifer, and I weep for your loss and for my loneliness. That alone adds to your sins. You have made me doubt.

*

Gabriel looked at the children filing through the doors of the church and felt the shudder run beneath his skin. His fingers tightened momentarily on his bent knees as he perched, hunched over like a bird of prey. "Monkeys," he hissed. Jerry lingered against the wall and Gabriel ignored him. All of his focus was on the children. Jerry only existed so far as he was useful and, at the moment, he had no use. Indulging in a low growl of disgust, the angel lifted his eyes to the large circle of stained glass that fronted the church. The setting sun caught the colors and glimmered a bit. For a moment, he had been tempted towards appreciation and approval. That was when the children came spilling out into the dying day.

He leaped from the low brick wall, a lanky figure of contrasts, stark black and dead white. He landed lightly and without a sound. Immediately, he buried his hands in the pockets of his frock coat. Safely tucked away, it was easier to resist the urge to rend and tear; he knew none of these children would hold what he sought. Too young, too innocent yet. Though the monkeys sometimes surprised him, he paused to consider. Sometimes even the young started their blasphemous depravity very, very early. Nonetheless, Chimney Rock lay within a few hours' drive and that was a sure thing. He looked at his driver briefly before turning back to stare at the stained glass window. "Jerry," he drawled, "how do you feel about speed limits? Driving laws?"

"Uh, is this a trick question?"

"Just answer the question, Jerry." 

He sensed more than saw Jerry shrug. The gesture was annoying in its indecision but at least it was not accompanied by sobbing or a renewed plea for death. Jerry had finally learned how Gabriel felt about tears. He waited. He was good at waiting, having perfected the skill over a few millenia. Finally, Jerry made a low grunting sound and answered, "Don't care."

"That's good, Jerry. Very good. Answer to no higher power than your God. Good." He turned neatly on his heel and the tail of his jacket flared out slightly. Reaching out, he pressed his palm against Jerry's cheek and smiled coldly at the flinch and the dead-eyed disgust of the man. "You may just get into the kingdom of Heaven yet, my boy," he added jovially.

"I'd have to goddamn die first."

"Tsk, watch your mouth or you can hand that ticket back." Gabriel turned away once more and started walking. He lifted one hand absently in clear summons. "Come on then," he ordered. "We have an errand to run."

"And then can I..?"

"Jerry. If you ask me that one more time, you will have to wait for all of eternity before you leave that meat suit." Gabriel never paused, never turned around. "Remember. I have all of the time in the world and beyond." 

As his fingers touched the door handle, though, Gabriel did stop and look over his shoulder at the stained glass window again. "And, even when I do release you, Jerry," he whispered, inaudible and only barely attentive, "believe me, you won't like where you're going. He's not the same angel by a long shot." His fingers tightened reflexively on the metal handle until it groaned minutely and he quickly lifted it away once more. He quickly turned back to face the car and closed his eyes. The true tragedy of his existence, of the existence of his kin, lingered in the timelessness of everything, he thought. The monkeys lived and died and forgot. He never forgot. He remembered the soothing essence of the word and the winds of creation. Gabriel remembered the lifted chin and the tension and the golden glow. 

The crushing silence and loneliness now obliterated everything else.

*

You still did not understand, Gabriel. You thought you did but you missed the salient points. In fact, you missed the boat, so to speak. Your war came too late to be yours. I had already left His side, left your side, and so all such things became mine. Evil and rebellion and corruption and arrogance - all are mine. I told you as much. You knew but you didn't want to admit it. Fine. We all know where liars go and you, my friend, are a liar.

I felt for you. I really did. Because I know how the silence grates and how the jealousy can gnaw at your insides, this is how only I can forgive you. Just because we've been apart doesn't mean that I know you any less. I have a feeling that you remember that moment just as well as I do but I'm sure you remember it differently. You probably thought, at one time, that you should have known. You might have even thought then that you could have saved me. This is how we are different. I never carried delusions of saving you, me, anyone. I freely admit to what I did and why I did it.

Because I hated the withdrawal of His attention.

Was I greedy? Of course I was. So were you. We were the best beloved and then He took those clay creations and asked us to bow before them. They got souls. What did we get? The leavings, the remnants, and the dross. It is one thing to serve what you love. It is quite another to cower for pets. When you become accustomed to love, it becomes natural. You loved me. I know you did, Gabriel. That means you sinned long before I did for - as you know, don't you? - the rule goes "love no other above me."

Did I love you? Probably not. I was the most perfect little golden angel ever, after all, better than the children's picture books have now. Loyal to a fault and more jealous than any poetic lover. Which is not something they put in the picture books now. Pity, that. I would rather be known for true love than true pride. Pride is so bourgeois. But what can you do? You know the talking monkeys like their blindness. You even have to admire them sometimes. Some day you might be able to admit that. I know, my friend. It takes a while. You're slow. It's alright. I almost love you now. I certainly love you more than He does. Jesus would never die for your sins but I would be very willing to kill for yours, Gabriel. I'm very, very generous with my love.

So generous, in fact, that I still held out my hands to the humans. Little Tommy Daggett and his broken vows. Not that he ever managed to finish them. The good Lord doesn't like things done half-assed so I doubt it ever counted. I'm sure he and Catherine are making a lovely couple now. I hope they are enjoying themselves. I find it so funny how humans cling together when the world does them wrong. It's as if they think that, after losing their faith in their God, they can find faith in each other. Why that wouldn't translate to coming home with me, I don't know. I told her. While heaven is closed and He is no longer listening, I am here and my doors, my arms, are always open. What more could anyone ask for? I practice the truest form of love which is, in reality, the same as hate. You all belong to me in the end. Thanks to your war, Gabriel, this is more true than ever. I should thank you personally. I should give you your dearest wish, the oldest wish. I denied it from you for so long but I'm feeling generous now that you've come back.

See how magnanimous I am? I would even forgive Thomas, doubting Thomas, his words.

 _I have my soul and I have my faith_ , he said. _What do you have, angel?_

I have my old friend with me again and I have quiet. The absolute silence that existed before this second war began. I have grown accustomed to it and now, once more, I have company. I always knew you would come home some day, Gabriel.

 


End file.
